The 50th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, nicknamed the "Blind Half-Hundred," was an infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 that served in the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Service

Organized in Quincy, Illinois

Quincy, Illinois

Quincy, known as Illinois' "Gem City," is a river city along the Mississippi River and the county seat of Adams County. As of the 2010 census the city held a population of 40,633. The city anchors its own micropolitan area and is the economic and regional hub of West-central Illinois, catering a...

. Companies A-K were from Adams, Brown, Hancock, Warren, and Fulton County. The "Half Blind One Hundred" was to fight with the army of the Tennessee. They Engaged in such battles as: The battle of Shiloh, Ft. Donnelson, Vicksburg, The Atlanta Campaign, Allatoona, and The march to the sea.

Total strength and casualties

The regiment suffered 2 officers and 60 enlisted men who were killed in action or mortally wounded and 121 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 191 fatalities.

Commanders

• Colonel
  Colonel
  Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
  
  Moses M. Bane - resigned on December 13, 1862.
• Lieutenant Colonel William Hanna - mustered out with the regiment.